U.S. patent number 7,305,442 [Application Number 09/976,801] was granted by the patent office on 2007-12-04 for asynchronous user-authorized advertising.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Sprint Spectrum L.P.. Invention is credited to Michael T. Lundy.
United States Patent |
7,305,442 |
Lundy |
December 4, 2007 |
Asynchronous user-authorized advertising
Abstract
A system and method for advertising on a subscriber terminal. A
server may send an advertising authorization request to the
subscriber terminal. The advertising authorization request may
comprise options that a user may select for accepting or rejecting
an advertisement to be sent to the subscriber terminal. If the
subscriber terminal accepts the advertisement, the server or
subscriber terminal may wait for one or more triggering events to
occur. The triggering events may include the subscriber terminal
being idle, substantially stationary, and/or a specific time of
day. Upon occurrence of the one or more triggering events, the
subscriber terminal may display the advertisement on its display
screen.
Inventors: |
Lundy; Michael T. (Olathe,
KS) |
Assignee: |
Sprint Spectrum L.P. (Overland
Park, KS)
|
Family
ID: |
38775512 |
Appl.
No.: |
09/976,801 |
Filed: |
October 12, 2001 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
709/206;
455/412.1; 705/14.59; 705/14.61; 705/14.64; 705/14.73; 709/227 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q
30/02 (20130101); G06Q 30/0262 (20130101); G06Q
30/0264 (20130101); G06Q 30/0267 (20130101); G06Q
30/0277 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
G06F
15/16 (20060101); G06Q 30/00 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;706/26 ;725/32,34-36,42
;455/412.1,412.2 ;705/14 ;709/206,216,227 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
Other References
"Permission E-Mail: The Future of Direct Marketing", ITM Strategies
(1999). cited by other .
"About Permission E-Mail", (visited Oct. 11, 2001),
www.yesmail.com/learn. cited by other .
"Taking bite out of spam will require sharp teeth", Chicago Tribune
(Apr. 5, 2001). cited by other.
|
Primary Examiner: Rudy; Andrew Joseph
Claims
I claim:
1. A method of advertising on a mobile subscriber terminal, the
method comprising: sending an advertising authorization request via
a telecommunications network to the mobile subscriber terminal;
receiving a reply to the advertising authorization request from the
mobile subscriber terminal, the reply providing authorization for
at least one advertisement to be sent to the mobile subscriber
terminal; and in response to the authorization, sending the at
least one advertisement to the mobile subscriber terminal when at
least one triggering event occurs, wherein the at least one
triggering event comprises the mobile subscriber terminal being
idle and the mobile subscriber terminal being substantially
stationary.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the advertising authorization
request comprises at least one user-selectable option for
authorizing the at least one advertisement to be sent to the mobile
subscriber terminal.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the mobile subscriber terminal
comprises a display screen, the method further comprising
displaying the at least one advertisement on the display
screen.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein sending the at least one
advertisement to the mobile subscriber terminal when the at least
one triggering event occurs comprises executing stored computer
instructions at a processor in the telecommunications network for
sending the at least one advertisement to the mobile subscriber
terminal when the at least one triggering event occurs.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the function of sending the at
least one advertisement to the mobile subscriber terminal when the
at least one triggering event occurs is initiated by a server
coupled to the telecommunications network.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving the at
least one advertisement at the mobile subscriber terminal; and in
response to receiving the at least one advertisement at the mobile
subscriber terminal, displaying the at least one advertisement on
the mobile subscriber terminal.
7. A method of advertising on a mobile subscriber terminal, the
method comprising: sending an advertising authorization request via
a telecommunications network to the mobile subscriber terminal;
receiving a reply to the advertising authorization request from the
mobile subscriber terminal, the reply authorizing at least one
advertisement to be sent to the mobile subscriber terminal; sending
the at least one advertisement to the mobile subscriber terminal in
response to receiving the reply; and displaying the at least one
advertisement on the mobile subscriber terminal in response to the
mobile subscriber terminal being idle and substantially
stationary.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the advertising authorization
request comprises at least one user-selectable option for
authorizing the at least one advertisement to be sent to the mobile
subscriber terminal.
9. A method of advertising on a mobile subscriber terminal, the
method comprising: retrieving a reply to an advertising
authorization request from computer readable memory, the reply
authorizing at least one advertisement to be sent to the mobile
subscriber terminal; sending the at least one advertisement to the
mobile subscriber terminal in response to retrieving the reply; and
displaying the at least one advertisement on the mobile subscriber
terminal in response to the mobile subscriber terminal being idle
and substantially stationary.
Description
BACKGROUND
1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to advertising and more particularly to a
method and system for user-authorized advertising over
communications networks.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, businesses have begun to take advantage of advances in
communications technology. Communications networks, such as the
Internet, connect millions of people all around the world. These
communications networks may permit businesses to send a vast array
of information to consumers. One type of information that
businesses may send is advertisements. Advertisements may take the
form of information about the business, its products and/or its
services. Consumers may receive these advertisements on a computer
or wireless terminal, for example, connected to the communications
networks.
The simplest of all advertisements sent over communications
networks may be an electronic mail ("e-mail") advertisement. The
e-mail advertisement is typically a text-message that a business
may send to advertise a particular product or service. The e-mail
advertisement may have no graphics and limited formatting (e.g.,
italics and bolding) so that it may be easily transported over the
communications networks. The e-mail advertisement is usually
addressed, using an "email address," to a user of a computer. A
computer or wireless terminal may receive the e-mail advertisement
and may store the e-mail in an "in-box." The user may then open the
"in-box" to read the e-mail advertisement.
If the communications networks to which the computer or wireless
terminal is connected effectively transport graphics and animation,
businesses may send "banner" advertisements. Banner advertisements
typically comprise graphics and/or animation displayed in a
web-page. Banner advertisements may stretch across the web-page,
similar to how a banner may stretch across a roadway. Unlike
traditional advertising methods, banner advertisements may allow a
user to interact with the advertisement. The banner advertisement
may have a Universal Resource Locator (URL) link. If the user
selects (e.g., by "clicking") the URL of the banner advertisement,
the user may obtain additional information about the advertiser and
its products or services. A user might not be able to obtain such
information from just viewing a television commercial or newspaper
advertisement, for example.
Similar to banner advertisements, advertisers may also send pop-up
advertisements. Pop-up advertisements are typically web-page
advertisements sent over the communications networks. The pop-up
advertisement may appear as a window in the foreground of a display
screen of the computer or wireless terminal. The window may cover
the entire display or a portion of the display. Advertisers may
find pop-up advertisements to be effective advertising methods
because the pop-up advertisements interrupt the user's activity. By
being in the foreground, the user must view the advertisement. Like
the banner advertisements, the pop-up advertisement may also have a
URL link. The URL may enable a user to obtain additional
information about the business and/or its goods and services.
SUMMARY
The present invention stems from a realization that advertising
over communications networks may be interruptive to a user.
Advertisements sent over communications networks typically have
text, graphic, and/or animation. As such, the advertisements may
interrupt the user's activity because the user may have to wait for
the advertisements to load on a subscriber terminal before the user
may continue with his activity. Additionally, the advertisements
may interrupt the user's activity because the user may not wish to
view advertisements that he did not solicit. Therefore, it would be
advantageous to have a more efficient method and system for
advertising over a communications network.
One way to efficiently advertise is to ask whether the user wishes
to receive an advertisement. A business may invite a user to submit
his e-mail address on a web-page in order to receive occasional
announcements and promotional offers in the form of e-mails. The
idea is that the advertisement may be less interruptive to a user
if the user authorizes the sending of the advertisement. The user,
however, may still not be receptive to the advertisement. For
example, the user may receive the advertisement when he is trying
to complete an activity on the subscriber terminal. In such a case,
the user may simply ignore the advertisement.
In accordance with a principle aspect of the present invention,
advertising may be performed on a server and a subscriber terminal.
The server may send an advertising authorization request over a
communications network to the subscriber terminal. The advertising
authorization request may comprise user-selectable options for
accepting or rejecting an advertisement from the server.
The subscriber terminal may send the user's reply to the
advertising authorization request to the server. If the subscriber
terminal accepts the advertisement, the server and/or subscriber
terminal may wait for one or more triggering events to occur before
sending/displaying the advertisement. The triggering events may
include the subscriber terminal being idle, the subscriber terminal
being substantially stationary, and/or the occurrence of a specific
time of day such as "dinner time."
In a first exemplary embodiment, the server may wait for the one or
more triggering events to occur. In response to occurrence of one
or more of the triggering events, the server may send the
advertisement to the subscriber terminal and the subscriber
terminal may display the advertisement on the display screen. In a
second exemplary embodiment, the server may send the advertisement
to the subscriber terminal and the subscriber terminal may store
the advertisement in memory. The subscriber terminal may then wait
for the one or more triggering events to occur. In response to
occurrence of the one or more triggering events, the subscriber
terminal may display the advertisement on its display screen.
The type of advertisement that the server sends may depend upon the
type of subscriber terminal. For example, if the subscriber
terminal is a cellular telephone, the advertisement may be defined
by a short message service (SMS) message or wireless access
protocol (WAP) card. If the subscriber terminal is a computer, then
the advertisement may be an HTML web-page or a downloadable program
(e.g., Java applet). Other arrangements are also possible.
These as well as other aspects and advantages of the exemplary
embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the
art by reading the following detailed description, with appropriate
reference to the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
An exemplary embodiment of the present invention is described
herein with reference to the drawings, in which:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a landline computer coupled
to a communications network;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a wireless terminal coupled
to the communications network;
FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating functional blocks of a
subscriber terminal;
FIG. 4 is an advertising process flow depicting communications
between a server and a subscriber terminal;
FIG. 5 is an illustration of an advertising authorization
request;
FIG. 6 is an illustration of a reply to the advertising
authorization request; and
FIG. 7 is an illustration of an exemplary advertisement.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS
A. Architecture for Facilitating Network-Based Advertising
Referring to the drawings, FIGS. 1 and 2 illustrate block diagrams
of communications networks in which exemplary embodiments of the
present invention may be employed. Those skilled in the art will
appreciate that other architectures can be used instead, additional
elements may be added to these architectures, and some elements may
be omitted altogether. Further, those skilled in the art will
appreciate that many of the elements described herein are
functional entities that may be implemented as discrete components
or in conjunction with other components, in any suitable
combination or location.
Still further, various functions described herein as being
performed by one or more entities may be carried out by a processor
programmed to execute an appropriate set of computer instructions
stored in memory. Provided with the present disclosure, those
skilled in the art can readily prepare the appropriate set of
computer instructions (e.g., software) to perform such
functions.
By way of example, FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified architecture
whereby a subscriber terminal 12, e.g., a landline terminal, may
communicate with a server 14 over a communications network 16. The
server may be a single or multiple processor-based system for
sending and receiving content over the communications network 16.
In the arrangement shown in FIG. 1, the subscriber terminal 12 is
coupled by a first gateway 18 to the communications network 16.
Similarly, the server 14 is coupled by a second gateway 20 to the
communications network 16. Gateways 18 and 20 each provide
connectivity to the communications network 16.
The communications network 16 enables the server 14 and the
subscriber terminal 16 to exchange data traffic. In an exemplary
embodiment, the communications network 16 may support TCP/IP
(Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol). According to
TCP/IP, the network devices (e.g., the subscriber terminal 12 and
server 14) may be assigned an IP address. The IP address may be a
unique address that identifies the network device and its location
on the communications network 16. For example, a first network
device (e.g. server 14) may use the IP address to send content to
the second network device (e.g., subscriber terminal 12). Routers
and bridges (not shown) within the communications network 16 may
use the IP address to route the data traffic across the
communications network 16.
FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary network architecture for
facilitating communications between a wireless subscriber terminal
30 (e.g., a computer with wireless modem or a cellular telephone)
and the communications network 16. The subscriber terminal 30 may
communicate with the communications network 16 via a base
transceiver station (BTS) 36, a base station controller (BSC) 37, a
mobile switching center (MSC) 38, and an interworking function
(IWF) 40. The BTS 36 may transmit and receive signals from the
subscriber terminal 30 within a cell in which the subscriber
terminal 30 is operating. The BSC 48 may then aggregate the signals
from a plurality of BTSs. The MSC 38 may address content (e.g.,
voice and data) to and from the subscriber terminal 30 using a
unique address (e.g., Subscriber ID or Mobile Identification
Number--MIN) to identify the subscriber terminal 30. The
"interworking" function (IWF) 40, connected to the MSC 38, may, in
turn, serve as a wireless/IP gateway. The IWF 40 may reformat data
from the wireless subscriber terminal 30 into packets for
transmission over the communications network 16.
The MSC 38 may not only be connected to an IWF 40. The MSC 38 may
also be coupled to a short message service center (SMSC) 44. The
SMSC 44 may be a functional entity that stores and forwards short
messages between the subscriber terminal 30 and the server 14.
Short messages are text-messages that may be sent to/from a
wireless terminal 30 without establishing an active call session.
For example, the SMSC 44 may send an SMS message to a short message
entity (SME). The SME may be a software application residing on the
subscriber terminal 30. The function of the SME may be to compose,
store, dispose, act upon, and display short messages.
Other arrangements are also possible for exchanging data with the
communications network 16. For example, in a "3G" mobile network,
the network of FIG. 2 may additionally or alternatively include a
packet data serving node (PDSN) 46. The PDSN 46 may receive data
from the BSC 48 and route the data to the communications network
16. In this arrangement, the data carried between the wireless
subscriber terminal 30 and the PDSN 46 may be in the form of
packets.
FIG. 3 is a simplified block diagram illustrating functional blocks
of an exemplary subscriber terminal 12, 30 (FIGS. 1 & 2). A bus
60 on the subscriber terminal may facilitate communications between
a processor 70, memory 68, a display screen 72, a character-entry
mechanism 66, an external interface 64, and a GPS transceiver
62.
The memory 68 is preferably a medium for storage such as Random
Access Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), or a hard drive. The
memory 68 may store computer instructions executable by the
processor 70. The display screen 72 may be, for example, a Cathode
Ray Tube (CRT) as commonly found on desktop computers or a Liquid
Crystal Display (LCD) screen as commonly found on cellular
telephones or portable computers. The display screen 72 may display
content transmitted and received over the communications network
16. The character entry mechanism 66 may be a keyboard or a numeric
keypad that accepts user-input. The microphone/speaker 74 may
facilitate audio communications.
The subscriber terminal may communicate with the server 14 using
the external interface 64. The external interface 64 may include a
transmitter circuit, receiver circuit, and/or a transceiver
circuit. These circuits may facilitate wireless communications with
the BTS 36 or wired communications with the gateway 18. Of course,
other arrangements are also possible.
The wireless subscriber terminal 30 may also have a GPS transceiver
62. The GPS transceiver 62 may facilitate communication with a GPS
satellite system so as to determine the location of the subscriber
terminal 30. For example, the processor 70 may be programmed to
receive its location coordinates using a GPS transceiver (e.g.,
longitude and latitude coordinates) and then report its location to
the MSC 38.
B. Exemplary Methods for Network-Based Advertising
The term advertising may be defined as "announcing information." In
one exemplary embodiment, an advertisement may contain information
about a product or service offered by business. In a second
exemplary embodiment, the advertisement may contain information
about an event such as a promotional offer. Of course, the
exemplary embodiments of the present invention are not limited by
the type or nature of information announced in the
advertisement.
FIG. 4 illustrates an advertising process flow between the server
14 and the subscriber terminal 12, 30 (FIGS. 1 & 2). The call
flow illustrates communications between the server 14 and the
subscriber terminal over the communications network 16 in
accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present
invention.
The server 14 may have computer instructions for outputting an
advertising authorization request. The advertising authorization
request may ask a user of the subscriber terminal to accept or
reject an advertisement from the server 14. Moreover, the
advertising authorization request may request that the user select
to receive a single advertisement or multiple advertisements from
the server. The advertising authorization request may be defined by
a web-page, a card that pops up in the foreground of the display
(i.e., pop-up window), or some other form. At step A, the server 14
may send the advertising authorization request to the subscriber
terminal.
The server may send the advertising authorization request in
response to one or more stimuli. For example, a user may enter a
Universal Resource Locator (URL) on the subscriber terminal to
connect to a server 14. The URL is typically a string (e.g.,
"www.advertise.com") that identifies a resource on the
communications network. When the subscriber terminal connects to
the server 14, the server 14 may send the advertising authorization
request. Alternatively, the server 14 may send the advertising
authorization request after a period of time has elapsed. Other
arrangements are also possible.
The user of the subscriber terminal may reply to the advertising
authorization request. For example, the user may select an option
of the advertising authorization request to indicate acceptance or
rejection of the advertisement (i.e., user-indication). In response
to a selection, the subscriber terminal may have computer
instructions for outputting a reply. The reply may indicate the
user's response to the advertising authorization request. At step
B, the subscriber terminal may send the reply to the server 14.
The server 14 may receive the reply to the advertising
authorization request and make a determination whether to send an
advertisement to the subscriber terminal. If the reply indicates
rejection of the advertisement, the server 14 may be programmed not
to send the advertisement. If the reply indicates acceptance of the
advertisement, the server may have computer instructions for
outputting the advertisement. At step C, the server 14 may send the
advertisement to the subscriber terminal.
The server 14 may send the advertisement in response to one or more
triggering events occurring, such as the subscriber terminal being
idle, the subscriber terminal being substantially stationary, or
the occurrence of a specific time of day. The subscriber terminal
may receive the advertisement and display it on the display screen
72. Alternatively, the server 14 may send the advertisement to the
subscriber terminal in response to receiving the reply. The
subscriber terminal, however, might be programmed to display the
advertisement in response to the occurrence of the one or more
triggering events. Of course, other arrangements are also possible
for making a determination when the advertisement is displayed on
the subscriber terminal.
The form of the advertisement may depend on the type of subscriber
terminal (e.g., landline or wireless). For example, if the
subscriber terminal 12 is a computer, then the advertisement may be
defined by an electronic mail, an instant message (i.e., real-time
electronic mail), an HTML web-page, or a downloadable program such
as a JAVA applet that may execute on the subscriber terminal 12.
The advertisement may pop-up in the foreground of the display and
include sound and color graphics (if supported by the display
screen 72). Alternatively, if the subscriber terminal 30 is a
wireless terminal such as a cellular telephone, then the
advertisement may be defined by an SMS message or Wireless
Application Protocol (WAP) card. Other arrangements are also
possible.
In the exemplary embodiments described so far, a single server 14
may send the advertising authorization request and the
advertisement. Of course, the functions may be distributed over
multiple servers. For example, a first server may attempt to obtain
authorization from the user of the subscriber terminal to send the
advertisement. If authorization is received, the first server may
send a message to a second server. The message may indicate to the
second server that an advertisement may be sent to the subscriber
terminal. The second server may then send the advertisement. Other
arrangements are also possible.
In the exemplary embodiments described so far, the server 14 also
sends an advertising authorization request each time the subscriber
terminal connects to the server 14. The server 14, however, need
not send the advertising authorization request each time the
subscriber terminal connects to the server 14.
In an alternative exemplary embodiment, the server 14 may be
programmed to store in memory 68 each reply that it receives from
subscriber terminals as the subscriber terminals reply to the
advertising authorization request. When a subscriber terminal
connects to the server 14, the server 14 may attempt to retrieve a
reply from memory. The reply in memory may correspond to the reply
that the subscriber terminal may have sent to the server 14 during
an earlier connection. The server 14 may retrieve the reply, for
example, by comparing the IP address, subscriber ID, or MIN, of the
subscriber terminal with that of the reply in memory. If a reply is
found in memory for the subscriber terminal, then the server 14
need not send an advertising authorization request to the
subscriber terminal. Instead, the server 14 may use the reply
stored in memory to determine whether to send advertisements to the
subscriber terminal. If the reply indicates acceptance of
advertisements, the server 14 may send the advertisements to the
subscriber terminal. Of course, other arrangements are also
possible.
1. Advertising Authorization Request
FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the advertising
authorization request 82 sent from the subscriber terminal to the
server 14 at step A. The advertising authorization request 82 may
comprise a set of user-selectable options for enabling the user to
indicate acceptance or rejection of an advertisement from the
server 14. The user may indicate acceptance of one or more
advertisements, for example, by selecting options 1 or 2 of the
advertising authorization request, respectively. The user may
indicate rejection of an advertisement, for example, by selecting
option 3 of the advertising authorization request 82. The user may
indicate acceptance or rejection by pressing the digit associated
with the desired options 80 on the character entry mechanism 66. Of
course, user-selectable options not illustrated in FIG. 5 may also
be present on the advertising authorization request 82. Moreover,
other arrangements are also possible for indicating selection of an
option 80.
If the subscriber terminal is a landline computer, the advertising
authorization request may take the form of an HTML web page. HTML,
Hyper-Text Markup Language, is a well-known authoring language for
creating web pages on a Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
network. If the subscriber terminal is a cellular telephone, the
advertising authorization request may take the form of a WAP card.
A browser running on the subscriber terminal may receive the HTML
web-page or WAP card and display the advertising authorization
request 82 on the display screen.
Of course other markup languages are possible for encoding the
advertising authorization request 82. For example, the advertising
authorization request may take the form of web page encoded in
eXentesible Markup Language (XML) or a card encoded in Handheld
Device Markup Language (HDML) or Compact Hyper-Text Markup Language
(cHTML). For purposes of illustration, however, the exemplary
embodiments of the present invention will assume that the
subscriber terminal exchanges either a HTML web-page or a WAP card
with the server 14.
2. Reply to the Advertising Authorization Request
The browser running on the subscriber terminal may send a reply to
the server 14 corresponding to the selected option. The reply 44
may be an indication of a particular choice item of the advertising
authorization request. The markup languages described above support
the capability for communicating the selected choice item to the
server 14.
FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the reply sent from
the subscriber terminal to the server 14 at step B. The reply 44
may be a data structure having a first field 40 and a second field
42. The first field 40 may identify one of the options 80 (FIG. 5)
selected by the user of the subscriber terminal. For example, the
first field 40 may be encoded with the digit corresponding to the
option selected. The second field 42 may comprise an identification
of the subscriber terminal. For example, the second field may have
the IP address, subscriber ID, or MIN identifying the replying
subscriber terminal. The reply 44 may further comprise other fields
and alternative fields from those illustrated herein.
3. Triggering Events Defining Transmission and Display of the
Advertisement
At step C of FIG. 3, the server 14 may send the advertisement to
the subscriber terminal. The server 14, subscriber terminal, and/or
various network entities, however, may delay transmission and/or
display of the advertisement. For example, the server 14 may send
the advertisement to the subscriber terminal in response to
receiving the reply 44 to the advertising authorization request 82.
The subscriber terminal may receive the advertisement, but wait to
display the advertisement on the display screen 72 until one or
more triggering events occur. Alternatively, the server 14 may
receive the reply 44 to the advertising authorization request 82,
but wait to send the advertisement to the subscriber terminal.
After the occurrence of the one or more triggering events, the
server 14 may send the advertisement to the subscriber terminal and
the subscriber terminal may display the advertisement on the
display screen 72. Of course, other arrangements may serve to delay
the transmission and display of the advertisement on the display
screen 72.
The triggering events may include the subscriber terminal being
idle, the subscriber terminal being substantially stationary,
and/or the occurrence of a specific time of day. The subscriber
terminal and/or the server 14 may wait for the occurrence of these
one or more of these triggering events before displaying and/or
sending the advertisement. For example, a server 14 may send the
advertisement when the subscriber terminal is idle or when the
subscriber terminal is both idle and substantially stationary. The
subscriber terminal may then display the advertisement when
received. Alternatively, the server 14 may send the advertisement
without considering the occurrence of the one or more triggering
events. The subscriber terminal, however, may display the
advertisement when the subscriber terminal is idle or when the
subscriber terminal is both idle and substantially stationary. If
the one or more triggering events do not occur, then the subscriber
terminal might be programmed to not display the advertisement.
a. Subscriber Terminal Being Idle
One of the triggering events effecting transmission and/or display
of the advertisement is the subscriber terminal being idle. In one
exemplary embodiment, the subscriber terminal may wait for the
subscriber terminal to be idle for a predetermined period of time
before displaying the advertisement on the display screen 72. The
subscriber terminal may be idle when there is no user-activity
(e.g., key presses) on the character-entry mechanism 66 (FIG. 3)
for the predetermined period of time. Such a definition of idle may
be well suited to an embodiment where the server sends the
advertisement to the subscriber terminal, the subscriber terminal
stores the advertisement in memory 68, and the subscriber terminal
delays display of the advertisement until the occurrence of the
triggering event. When there is no user-activity, the subscriber
terminal may display the advertisement on the display screen.
Alternatively, the subscriber terminal may wait for the occurrence
of additional triggering events to occur before displaying the
advertisement.
To determine whether the subscriber terminal is idle, the
subscriber terminal may comprise, or receive from the server 14,
computer instructions (e.g., a JAVA applet) for implementing an
idle counter. The idle counter may count from zero, but be reset to
zero each time a key press is registered on the character entry
mechanism 66. If the idle counter reaches a predetermined
threshold, then the subscriber terminal may be "idle." In a
preferred embodiment, the idle time threshold is 30 seconds, but
other arrangements are also possible.
Alternatively, instead of the subscriber terminal waiting for the
subscriber terminal to be idle, the server 14 may wait for the
subscriber terminal to be idle. As such, the server 14 may delay
the sending of the advertisement to the subscriber terminal until
the subscriber terminal is idle. Then the server 14 may send the
advertisement to the subscriber terminal when idle or wait for
additional triggering events before sending the advertisement.
The server 14 may determine that the subscriber terminal 30 is idle
by receiving an indication from the MSC 38 (FIG. 2) when a call is
terminated or dropped. The MSC 38 (FIG. 2) is typically programmed
to generate a Call Detail Record (CDR) when a call is terminated or
dropped. The CDR is used by a billing server so as to track call
usage on an account-by-account basis. When the MSC 38 generates the
CDR, the MSC 38 (or other network device) may be programmed to
indicate to the server 14 (e.g., by sending message using HTTP
messaging protocol) that a call on the subscriber terminal 30 has
been terminated or dropped. As such, the server 14 may use the CDR
as an indication that the subscriber terminal is idle.
In response to the indication from the MSC 38 that subscriber
terminal 30 is idle, the server 14 may send the advertisement to
the subscriber terminal.
As there may be a delay between the time the MSC 38 sends the
indication and the time that the server 14 decides to send the
advertisement, the server 14 may query the MSC 38 associated with
the subscriber terminal 30 (e.g., by looking at the home location
register) before sending the advertisement. The server 14 may query
whether the subscriber terminal 30 is in a call session (i.e., not
idle). If the subscriber terminal 30 is idle, then the server 14
may send the advertisement to the subscriber terminal 30. Of
course, other arrangements are also possible.
b. Subscriber Terminal Being Substantially Stationary
Another triggering event defining whether the subscriber terminal
displays the advertisement may be the subscriber terminal 30 being
"substantially stationary." If the subscriber terminal 30 has
received the advertisement and determines that it is substantially
stationary, then the subscriber terminal 30 may display the
advertisement. Alternatively, if the server 14 determines that the
subscriber terminal 30 is substantially stationary, then the server
14 may send the advertisement to the subscriber terminal 30,
preferably for display. Of course, the server 14 or subscriber
terminal 30 may wait for additional triggering events before
sending and/or displaying the advertisement.
Substantially stationary may be defined as when the movement of the
subscriber terminal 30 varies at less than a predetermined rate. In
one embodiment, the server 32 may query the subscriber terminal 30,
itself, or a mobile positioning system (MPC) of the communications
network for the position of the subscriber terminal 30. In another
embodiment, the subscriber terminal 30 may use the GPS 62 to
determine its position.
By way of example, Interim Standard 801 (TIA/EIA/JS-801) published
by the Telecommunications Industry Association and entitled
"Position Determination Standard for Dual Mode Spread Spectrum
Systems" (the entirety of which is herein incorporated by
reference) describes various methods for determining and conveying
mobile terminal position coordinates. One method for determining
and conveying mobile terminal position coordinates is Advanced
Forward Link Trilateration (A-FLT). A-FLT is a time-synchronized
system for determining location of the subscriber terminal 30. The
MSC 38 may measure the time difference (phase delay) between pairs
of signals and convert the time difference into range information
based on fixed reference points (e.g., base station). The range
data may be used to form curves at which an intersection is defined
for the location of the subscriber station 30.
Using the positional information of the subscriber terminal 30, the
server 14, the subscriber terminal 30, or some other entity may
calculate a rate of motion of the subscriber terminal 30 to
determine whether the subscriber terminal 30 is substantially
stationary. The rate of motion of the subscriber terminal 30 may be
defined by the following formula, wherein (x.sub.1,y.sub.1)
corresponds to a location (e.g., longitude and latitude of the
subscriber terminal 30 at time t.sub.1 and (x.sub.2,y.sub.2)
corresponds to a location (e.g., longitude and latitude of the
subscriber terminal) at time t.sub.2:
##EQU00001##
If the motion of the subscriber terminal 30 varies at less than a
predetermined rate, the subscriber terminal 30 may be considered
substantially stationary. The predetermined rate may vary based on
the operating environment of the subscriber terminal 30. For
instance, if the subscriber terminal 30 is fixed in an automobile,
the predetermined rate may be appropriately set so that the user
may receive advertisements when he may be driving in slow traffic.
Alternatively, if the subscriber terminal 30 is portable, the
predetermined rate may be appropriately set so that the user may
receive advertisements while he is walking. Thus, the predetermined
rate may be a configurable parameter settable by the network
provider or the user of the subscriber terminal 30.
c. Advertisement at Particular Time of Day
Yet another triggering event defining whether the subscriber
terminal and server 14 displays and/or sends the advertisement may
be an occurrence of a specific time of day. In one exemplary
embodiment, the server 14 may send an advertisement for a dinner
meal at a fast food restaurant at 5 p.m., e.g., at dinnertime. The
subscriber terminal may then display the advertisement. In another
exemplary embodiment, the subscriber terminal may receive an
advertisement from the server 14, but the subscriber terminal may
display the advertisement only at the specific time of day. For
example, the server 14 may send an advertisement for a dinner meal
at 11 a.m., but the subscriber terminal may not display the
advertisement until dinner time, e.g., 5 p.m. As such, the
subscriber terminal and the server 14 may have a clock for tracking
the time of day.
Again, other arrangements are also possible. For example, the
server 14 and/or mobile terminal may wait for additional triggering
events before sending/displaying the advertisement.
4. Exemplary Advertisement
FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of an advertisement 108
as sent by the server 14. The advertisement 108 may comprise text
and/or graphics, for example, about a product or service such as
"Buy XYZ Drug for Pain" 110. In addition to the information on the
actual advertisement, the advertisement may have a URL link 100,
102 (e.g., in an HTML defined advertisement) or a "WAP push" (e.g.,
in an SMS defined advertisement). The URL link 10, 102 or the WAP
push may be selected by the user to view a second advertisement.
The second advertisement may have additional information about the
product or service being advertised.
The second advertisement 104 may be another web-page.
Alternatively, the second advertisement may be electronic mail,
instant message, or SMS message displayed as a result of selecting
the URL or WAP push, for example.
Still alternatively, the second advertisement may be defined by an
electronic coupon 106 as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,648
entitled "Interactive Marketing and Process Using Electronic
Certificates," the entirety of which is incorporated by reference.
The electronic coupon 106 may be provided by the business that is
advertising that allows the bearer of the coupon to receive a
discount on the advertised product. The electronic coupon 106 may
be printed out so that the user can receive the discount on the
purchase of the advertised product or service. Other arrangements
are also possible.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention have thus been
illustrated and described. It will be understood, however, that
changes and modifications may be made to the invention as described
without deviating from the spirit and scope of the invention, as
defined by the following claims.
* * * * *
References